Josh Thomson Staunchly Defends 'Universal' Laura Sanko After Jamie Varner Criticism: 'Let Her Do Her Job, You Sit At Home & Watch From The Couch!'

Jamie Varner's recent diss of Laura Sanko has not gone down well in the combat sports community. 

Taking to X with some since-deleted tweets, Varner dismissed the quality of Sanko's commentary and questioned how extensive her knowledge of MMA really is. 

Unsurprisingly, Varner's criticisms have garnered some blowback, including from former Strikeforce lightweight champion Josh Thomson and veteran MMA referee "Big" John McCarthy. 

'She's Doing A Great Job' - Josh Thomson On Laura Sanko

During a recent edition of the WEIGHING IN podcast, Thomson noted the difference a female voice can bring to the commentary table. "The Punk" praised Sanko's work and suggested fighters need to give some time to adjust to her commentary presence. 

"The way that the guys get excited, the way that their voice comes across in their excitement, versus the way that her voice comes across and her excitement is different," Thomson said. "It's something that we haven't heard before. And so fighters are having a hard time adjusting to that, people that have been involved in the sport for a long are gonna have a hard time adjusting to it, but let's give it some time. She does a great job, she did a great job with the Dana White Contender Series, she's now getting into the bigger shows and she's doing a great job there."

Thomson went on to praise Sanko for being able to succeed in a variety of functions in an MMA promotion, making her an ideal hire for any MMA promoter out there.  

"She can plug and play," Thomson said. "She can do the backroom interviews, she can do the reporting, she can do the desk segment, she can lead the desk, or she can be part of the panel, she can also do the cageside commentary. She can do it all. And if you're somebody who's running a promotion company, if you're somebody that has a promotion company like how the UFC is, you want someone that's universal, someone that can plug and play anywhere you need in case someone gets sick... You need that person, she is that person."

Thomson went on to share his thoughts on Varner himself.

"I don't agree with Jamie Varner's assessment whatsoever, I thought it was very harsh in attacking her the way he did," Thomson said. "All due respect, let her do her job, and then you sit at home and watch from the couch, that's the deal man, that's how this works."